America as a laughing stock?

I don't live in America, I live in Belgium. And I'm very glad to live here.

Why?

Well, simply because the things I've heard, read and seen about America don't really attract me to the land of the "free". In fact, from what (mostly American) people tell me, America is anything but the land of the free.

I know that America has some problems with general healthcare or social security or something (I'm not really strong in all that kind of stuff, but it does sound bad), and that a lot of politicians in America are straight out liars and cheaters.

Sure, Belgium has a very bad political situation at the moment, we haven't had a government for 6 months now, but still it's better than the USA in my opinion.

I still have a lot of questions about America, and I thought -since most of you are American I suppose- I should ask you guys here. So here I go.

- Is it true that a big part of America is strongly against gay people and immigrants?

- What exactly is going on with that healthcare/social security thing?

- Do you guys notice any religious overshadowing?

- How is your economy?

and last but not least:

- What reasons would you give me to persuade me to come to America on holiday?

I am not very interested in going to the Creationist Museum lol, but the science museums & museums of natural history with tons of cool fossils and stuff are pretty awesome. ;)

And McDonald's is supposedly slightly different in the different countries lol, so it would be cool for you to see what the original American ones are like... and yes it can taste good... lmao but it's the most horrible-for-you junk food - if that's really our best culinary contribution to the world, we should definitely be ashamed lmao.

I have been to California, I have been to Manhattan Beach multiple times, I have family that lives there, been to a Bar Mitzvah and a Bat Mitzvah over there, as well as when my grandfather died he happened to be at another Bar Mitzvah at the time so we went there... I've also been to the San Diego zoo which is pretty cool since it's such a famous and big zoo, and I went to Disney Land when I was 8 years old. ;) My dad lived over there for 6 years. And I'm really into all the Hollywood stuff so I've always sort of dreamed of going over there permanently and getting a job working in television in some way lol, now that dream has sort of subsided and I'm still really enjoying editing and being a crazy fangirl as a hobby, but I don't really think of it as my potential career... ;)

I lived 6 months in California. I liked Florida a lot better. SE Florida has more parties, more crazy people, California can be quite uptight (you get ID'd all the time for everything!) and is so body conscious it's scary. SE Floridians are more laid back.

Yeah. America is cool in that you can go skiing or surfing here, you can see all sorts of different types of natural parks and waterfalls and springs and wildlife, I still have yet to go to Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon but I think it'd be worthwhile to go someday. :D

I saw my first Broadway show ever in New York this past November and it was really awesome and worth the experience. ;)

I've been to some minor league baseball games in Indiana, and a major league baseball game (the Orioles in Maryland), they were pretty fun experiences as well, although not something I could really imagine a European coming to America to do.

There are tons of things to do here though, the country is so huge. ;)

Yeah that's a great post. ;) I agree with it as an American and hope to get to see as many of the states someday as you have. The only states I've really been to (although I may have driven through a few more) are Maryland (and Washington D.C.), Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, Indiana, Colorado, Florida, and California. My dad works in Virginia and tells me about how scary it is that it's suddenly the bible belt, and a few of my family members recently moved to Tennessee and have some stories. I have never been to most places in the south/midwest/center of the country and have mainly only been to the biggest cities in all of those states except for Maryland where I've truly lived all over and been in pretty rural areas and suburbs and everything. ;) I feel like going to another state definitely could be like going to a new country lol depending on the state. ;)

Being a Canadian married to an American, I would have to say that there are certain areas of the US that are better than others for atheists, free thinkers, and such. The central bible belt, and many of the southern states are not necessarily "friendly" to anyone that does not believe in the same dogma they do. ( I know this from experience, my husband is black, and I am white.--and we are both atheists)

I prefer living in Canada, as the US has become something of a police state. They also do not have the same level of health care coverage that Canada does, but it is also less expensive to live in the US than it is in Canada. There are pros and cons to almost every situation.